A FAMILY man from Bleadon has been sentenced to three years in prison for distributing 'depraved' images of children as young

A FAMILY man from Bleadon has been sentenced to three years in prison for distributing 'depraved' images of children as young as two months old being sexually abused.John Alford, aged 50, was caught with nearly 3,000 indecent photographs and moving images of children on his computer ranging from level 1-5, which included scenes of bestiality and sex acts being carried out on babies.The court heard how DC Mark Smith, from Avon and Somerset Constabulary, who headed up the investigation, described the images as 'some of the worst he'd had the misfortune of seeing.'Alford, of Roman Road, admitted 24 offences of making indecent images of children, one charge of distributing and one of possessing indecent images of children between February and November last year. His computer was confiscated by police last November following a tip off.The court heard how Alford, who is married with two teenage daughters, had become interested in child porn after he admitted he was gay and started to talk to other gay men in internet chat rooms.Martin Lanchester, prosecuting, said: "He (Alford) said he hadn't thought about having sex with children, he used the images for masturbation. He mainly found images of boys aged 12 plus his preference. He said his contact in America passed on the images of babies being abused."Christopher Smyth, defending, said: "He's 50 years old and of previous good character, but as a result of this he's lost everything."He's now lost his home and is separated from his wife and children. Most of his friends have disowned him and he's lost his job."Mr Smyth added that Alford realises he cannot have the same involvement he used to with his daughters because of his actions.He said: "He's deliberately stopped taking his daughters to school realising he won't be able to participate in activities he did in the past because of parents' views of him. It's a mature, sensible approach to take.After he was arrested Alford gave up details about the people he had been sending the images to which has led to one arrest.But Judge David Ticehurst said only a prison sentence would warrant due to the 'sick and perverted' nature of the material.When sentencing Alford, he said: "You've ruined everything you've worked for and lost your relationship with your daughters, your marriage has come to an end and your parents are not aware of the tragic situation your conduct has brought on."But the other victims are the children, the 15-month-old child and the two-year-old who's abused by men, by women and in some cases animals in order to satisfy the perverted cravings of people such as yourself to view these images."It's also clear these images were deliberately kept by you. This wasn't a case of casually trawling the internet and looking at images, but you determined to keep them on a file so you could access them when you chose."The images are depraved and contemptible and they only exist because there are individuals such as you who provide a market for them."You have ruined everything you've worked for and it's absolutely no-one's fault but your own. You should be thoroughly disgusted by yourself and your behaviour."Alford was also banned from working with children and will be on the sex offenders register for life.